1. Field of the Present Invention
The present invention generally relates to dissipating heat generated by electronic components, and more specifically to an assembly for promoting the efficient dissipation of heat in a computer.
2. History of Related Art
Market demands for processing intensive applications such as multimedia have resulted in an ever increasing demand for computing systems that operate at higher speeds. In addition, market preferences generally dictate that smaller system packages are preferred to larger system packages. Typically, computer systems are cooled by one or more fans mounted to the interior of the chassis that blow air across the applicable electronic components and transfer heat through convection.
The trend towards smaller packages for the computer systems while at the same time increasing the available computing power of the systems has increased the amount of heat generated within the systems, and thus, increased the importance of effective and reliable cooling. Moreover, in the recent past, typically only the central processor of a computing system generated enough heat to warrant extensive heat dissipation consideration. Since then, however, the higher operating speeds demanded of components peripheral to the central processor have resulted in the need to address the dissipation of thermal loads from components other than just the central processing unit. For example, many computing systems include one or more peripheral interfaces that comply with various industry standard bus architectures such as the Industry Standard Architecture (ISA), Extended Industry Standard Architecture (EISA), or Peripheral Component Interface (PCI). These standards may require bus frequencies in excess of 100 MHz thereby creating significant thermal energy within the confined space of the computer system.
Failure to provide adequate cooling can result in the loss of valuable computing resources as well as the expenditure of increased resources to recover lost data. Thus, achieving marketplace success dictates that manufacturers design increasingly efficient mechanisms and systems for dissipating heat within a computer system without significantly increasing cost, complexity, or package size. Therefore, it would be desirable to implement a heat dissipation assembly for a computer system that increased the amount of air flow without bigger fans, bigger boxes, or the like.
The problems identified above are in large part addressed by an assembly for dissipating heat within a computer system wherein the assembly is designed to permit an increase in the available area for venting (and thereby increasing ambient air flow within the computer system) without compromising the structural integrity of the assembly and at the same time maintaining the ability of the assembly to adequately shield electromagnetic interference that may be generated by electronic components located within the computer system.
Briefly and in general terms, the present invention according to one embodiment thereof contemplates an assembly for dissipating heat generated by electronic components, the assembly designed to include a computer chassis dimensioned to substantially enclose the electronic components. The assembly is further designed so that the chassis includes a panel having a substantially flat portion and a non-flat portion with the non-flat portion including a plurality of vent holes and having a surface area that is greater than the surface area of a flat portion with corresponding outer dimensions.
Other aspects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, illustrating by way of example the principles of the present invention.